Suffolk County Sheriff's Office

Suffolk County Sheriff's Office
Seal of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office
Abbreviation	SCSO
Agency overview
Formed	1683
Employees	1255
Jurisdictional structure
Operations jurisdiction	Suffolk, New York, United States
Map of Suffolk County Sheriff's Office's jurisdiction
Size	911 square miles (2,360 km2)
Population	1.5 Million +
Legal jurisdiction	Suffolk County, NY
Operational structure
Headquarters	Riverhead, New York
Deputy Sheriffs Correction Officers	247 841
Civilians	130
Agency executives	Vincent F. DeMarco, Sheriff John P. Meyerricks, Undersheriff Joseph T. Caracappa, Undersheriff
Facilities
Jails	3
Patrol Boats	4
Canines	4
Website
Official Site

The Suffolk County Sheriff's Office is the oldest law enforcement agency in Suffolk County, New York. The sheriff's office currently employs approximately 1200 people, including 841 correction officers, 247 deputy sheriffs, and 130 civilian personnel. Its Office and Business Operations are located at the Riverhead Correctional Facility, 100 Center Drive South in Riverhead (although it bears the Riverhead name, it is actually south of the Peconic River in Riverside in the Town of Southampton).

The sheriff of Suffolk County is elected to the term of four years.

History

On Long Island, from 1664 to 1683 ridings were used to establish boundaries within the shire. The East riding comprised the territory now occupied by Suffolk County. The West riding consisted of Kings County and Newtown (Queens County). The remainder of Long Island belonged to the North riding. Collectively, the three ridings were called Yorkshire.

The colonial governor of New York appointed a "High Sheriff" for Yorkshire with a Deputy from each riding. In 1683, the ridings were abolished and the East riding became Suffolk County. The High Sheriff was no longer necessary being that each County would now have its own Sheriff. Suffolk County’s first Sheriff was Josiah Hobart in 1683.

After the American Revolution, the practice of the Governor appointing a sheriff continued and was incorporated into the first New York Constitution, adopted in 1777. At the 1821 constitutional convention, the office of sheriff became an elective office. That year, Abraham Gardiner became Suffolk County's first elected sheriff.

Duties

The Sheriff's Office:

• Operates the two Suffolk County correctional facilities (in Yaphank and Riverhead), provides county courthouse security and detention.
• Provides service and enforcement of civil papers, evictions and warrants.
• Are responsible for patrolling and investigating all crimes committed on county-owned property such as county government office buildings and the campuses of the Suffolk County Community College, as well as providing assistance to the Suffolk County Park Police.
• Has several specialized units, including K-9 Units, Marine Units, a Dive Team, a Mountain Bike Unit, an ATV Unit, the Sheriff's Emergency Response Team (SERT), a tactical weapons team and a sniper section, and a Highway Patrol Division (including a Motorcycle Section), which covers all roadways in Suffolk County, answering all 911 calls for service on State Route 27 (Sunrise Hwy) from exit 37 to the Southampton Town line and Interstate Route 495 (The Long Island Expressway) from the Nassau County border to the Riverhead Town line.

Celebrating its 327th year of service to Suffolk County.

The Sheriff's Office participates in various task forces, such as the East End Drug Task Force, and the specially created joint task force with the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement to investigate and arrest illegal immigrant gang members, the Drug Enforcement Agency, High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area, and the United States Marshals Service), undercover assignments, and also conduct criminal investigations.

Rank structure

The SCSO formerly had an Undersheriff for Corrections and an Undersheriff for Law Enforcement. Sheriff DeMarco changed that practice by appointing an undersheriff as his number two man in the department and a second undersheriff subordinate to the first.

Title	Insignia
Sheriff Vincent F. DeMarco
Undersheriff John P. Meyerricks
Undersheriff Joseph T. Caracappa
Chief Deputy Sheriff/Chief of Staff/Warden
Deputy Warden
Captain/Investigator Captain
Lieutenant/Investigator Lieutenant
Sergeant/Investigator Sergeant	Deputy Corrections
Deputy Sheriff/Correction Officer Deputy Sheriff Investigator/Correction Officer Investigator

List of sheriffs

There have been many sheriffs through 325 years of service.

Sheriff	Start of term	Sheriff	Start of term	Sheriff	Start of term
Josiah Hobart	1683	Abraham Gardiner	1821	Henry Preston	1903
John Mulford	1701	Samuel Smith	1826	John Wells	1906
Hugh Gray	1702	Abraham Gardiner	1829	Charles Platt	1909
John Brush	1710	Richard Smith	1832	Melville Brush	1912
Daniel Youngs	1718	Silas Horton	1835	D. Henry Brown	1913
Samuel Dayton	1723	Samuel Miller	1838	Charles O'Dell	1914
William Sell	1728	David Brush	1841	Amza Biggs	1917
Joseph Smith	1730	Henry Penny	1844	John Kelly	1920
David Corrie	1731	David Rose	1847	Amza Biggs	1923
Jacob Conklin	1734	John Clark	1850	Burton Howe	1926
Thomas Higbe	1740	Samuel Phillips	1855	Ellis Taylor	1929
James Muirson	1774	George Carman	1856	Joseph Warta	1932
Thomas Wickes	1785	Stephen Wilson	1859	William McCollom	1935
Silas Halsey	1787	Daniel Osborn	1862	Jacob Dreyer	1938
Thomas Wickes	1791	George Smith	1868	John Levy	1941
Phinaes Carll	1799	J. Henry Perkins	1871	William McCollom	1942
Josiah Reeve	1803	Egbert Lewis	1874	Charles Dominy	1957
Phinaes Smith	1807	George Cooper	1877	Frank Gross	1962
Josiah Reeve	1808	Robert Petty	1888	Philip Corso	1970
Benjamin Brewster	1810	Selah Brewster	1883	Donald Dilworth	1976
Josiah Reeve	1811	Henry Halsey	1886	John Finnerty	1977
Benjamin Brewster	1812	Robert Petty	1888	Eugene Dooley	1986
Josiah Reeve	1813	A. M. Darling	1891	Patrick Mahoney	1990
Nathaniel Conklin	1814	Benjamin Wood	1897	Alfred C. Tisch	2002
Josiah Reeve	1815	J. Sheridan Wells	1900	Vincent F. DeMarco	2006
Samuel Carll	1819

Line of duty deaths

Since the establishment of the Suffolk County Sheriff's Office, four officers have died in the line of duty.

Officer	Date of Death	Details
Deputy Sheriff William Henry Rafford	Wednesday, December 16, 1903	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff George A. Stillwell	Friday, August 10, 1906	Gunfire
Deputy Sheriff Harold E. Vanderoef Jr.	Thursday, June 4, 1987	Struck by vehicle
Correction Officer Andrew Paul Reister	Saturday, August 9, 2008	Assault

SCSO awards, commendations, citations and medals

The Sheriff's Office presents a number of medals to its members for meritorious service.

• Medal of Honor:

A gold medal and a blue and gold bar (inscription "HONOR"). The Sheriff’s Office Medal of Honor may be awarded to any Sworn Officer of the Sheriff’s Office who, while being fully aware of an imminent risk of life, intelligently distinguishes himself/herself in an act of gallantry above and beyond the call of duty.

• Combat Gold Medal:

A gold medal and a blue-red-blue bar (inscription "COMBAT"). The Combat Gold Medal may be awarded for the successful performance of an act of extraordinary heroism while engaged in personal combat with an armed adversry, at imminent personal hazard of live, in the intelligent performance of duty.

• Bravery Gold Medal:

A gold medal and a red-blue-red bar (inscription "BRAVERY"). The Bravery Gold Medal may be awarded for an act of outstanding personal bravery intlligently performed, involving personal risk of life, or involvinig grave personal danger.

• Combat Silver Medal

A silver medal and a blue-white-blue bar (inscription "COMBAT"). The Combat Silver Medal may be awarded for the successful performance of an act of heroism while engaged in personal combat with an armed adversry, at imminent personal hazard of live, in the intelligent performance of duty.

• Bravery Silver Medal

A silver medal and a white-blue-white bar (inscription "BRAVERY"). The Bravery Silver Medal may be awarded for an act of personal bravery intlligently performed, involving personal risk of life, or involvinig grave personal danger.

• Purple Heart:

A solid purple bar. The Purple Heart may be awarded to any Sworn Officer of the Sheriff’s Office who is seriously wounded as a result of the hostile actions of another occurring under honorable conditions, or posthumously, to a Sworn Member of the Sheriff's Office who is killed in the performance of duty under honorable conditions as the result of the hostile actions of another.

• Exceptional Meritorious Award:

A white-blue-white-red-white-blue-white breast bar. May be awarded for an act of personal bravery, intelligently performed, involving grave personal danger.

• Meritorious Service Award:

A bronze plaque with a blue-white-blue bar. The Meritorious Service Award may be awarded to any Sworn Officer of the Sheriff’s Office who, while in the line of duty and exhibiting professionalism to the highest degree, distinguishes himself/herself in overcoming a seemingly insurmountable task, problem, situation or period of time through the use of constant faithfulness, perseverance and an overall dedication to duty.

• Exceptional Service Award:

A red-white-red bar. The Exceptional Service Award may be awarded to any member of the Sheriff’s Office who, while in the line of duty and exhibiting professionalism to the highest degree, distinguishes himself/herself to such an extent that this action goes beyond those which are normally expected of a Sheriff’s Office member.

• Special Service Award:

• DWI Award:

A blue and gray breast bar (inscription "5", "10", "20", or "50" in silver within the blue and "STOP D.W.I." in blue within the gray). Awarded to a Deputy Sheriff who has affected five or more, as indicated by the numeral, arrests for DWI.

• Letter of Commendation:

A Letter of Commendation may be awarded to members of the Sheriff’s Office who conduct themselves in a professional manner while performing their duties and by their deeds give other members an ideal or example to follow. In addition, the member's conduct went beyond the set standard and demonstrated a truly special strength or action evidencing courage, resourcefulness and/or a particular dedication to duty.

• Letter of Recognition:

A Letter of Recognition may be awarded to members of the Sheriff’s Office who conduct themselves in a professional manner while performing their duties and by their deeds give other members an ideal or example to follow.

• Civilian Commendation:

A laminated letter plaque. The Civilian Commendation may be awarded to a civilian who has rendered assistance to a member of the Sheriff’s Office during an emergency or who has rendered outstanding assistance to the Sheriff’s Office as a whole.

• Civilian Award:

A Certificate of Appreciation. The Civilian Award may be awarded to any individual or organization who, by act or deed, has contributed to a better Sheriff’s Office-community relationship.

• Unit Award:

A gold plaque. The Unit Award may be awarded to any unit, section, bureau or command in the Sheriff’s Office which demonstrates unit integrity and outstanding performance over a period of time or for a specific assignment, and while in the performance of its duties, went beyond the set standard and demonstrated a truly special strength or action evidencing courage, resourcefulness and/or a particular dedication to duty.

• 9-11 World Trade Center Award:

A red, white, blue and gold (American Flag) breast bar (inscription "09-11-01" in gold). Awarded to each Sworn Officer of the Sheriff's Office who was assigned to the World Trade Center "Ground Zero"site in New York City.

• T.W.A. Flight 800 Crash Site Award:

A blue breast bar (inscription "TWA 800"). Awarded to each Sworn Officer of the Sheriff's Officer who was assigned to the TWA crash site in July of 1996/

• Professionalization Award:

• Emergency Medical Technician Award:

• Firearms Instructor Award:

• Instructor Award:

A white-red-white-red-white breast bar. A Sworn Officer who has been certified as an Instructor by the Office of Public Safety of the State of New York.

• Field Training Officer Award:

A blue-yellow-blue-yellow-blue-yellow-blue breast bar. Awarded to a Sworn Officer who is an active certified participant in the Field Training Officer Program.

• Tactical Unit Award:

• S.E.R.T. Unit Award:

Awarded to a Correction Officer who has successfully completed the course of instruction approved by the Sheriff's Office and is an active Sworn Officer of the Sheriff's Office S.E.R.T. Unit.

• Longevity Award:

A gold-red-gold breast bar (inscription "5", "10", "15", '20", "25", "30", or "35" in gold). Awarded to a Sworn Officer who has completed the appropriate number of years of service.

• Military Veteran Award:

A blue breast bar with 12 gold stars. Awarded to a Sworn Officer who is a military veteran.

• Military Branch of Service Award:

• Firearms Proficiency Award:

See also

• List of law enforcement agencies in New York
• List of Long Island law enforcement agencies
• Suffolk County Police Department

External links

• Suffolk County Sheriff's Office page